Cimzia is a PEGylated anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), having high affinity for human TNF-alpha, selectively neutralizing the pathophysiological effects of TNF-alpha.
The data suggested that disease activity response rates to Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) plus methotrexate (MTX) as early as Week 12 helped predict the effect on structural joint damage in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at one year.
Comparable responses were found by both RAPID3 (Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data and EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism), suggesting that either response criteria could be used as predictors of structural joint damage in patients with moderate to severe RA.
The RAPID3 patient-derived assessment of disease activity has been shown to correlate with disease activity score, DAS28, in patients treated with certolizumab pegol.
The analysis examined patients treated with certolizumab pegol plus MTX compared to placebo plus MTX.